Mark Bugnaski / GazetteTim Krull, 28, helps farm the 100 acres owned by his parents, Steve and Terry Krull. The state is negotiating with the Krulls to acquire some of their land, which is needed to build a U.S. 131 bypass around the village of Constantine.

CONSTANTINE — Property owners west of the village of Constantine have acknowledged for decades that a U.S. 131 bypass around
the village could someday be built.

But for many Constantine Township residents, including Steve and Terry Krull, it also has been easy to remain complacent about
the bypass coming through their community because funding for the six-mile route has always been a question mark.

“We always had an idea it would affect us, but, quite honestly, we’ve long believed the day would never get here when we’d
have to start negotiations with (the Michigan Department of Transportation),” Terry Krull said.

But negotiations are heating up and at stake is prime farmland, property that has been farmed by families for years and chunks
of which seed-corn companies such as Monsanto are trying to buy. While other property classes are declining in valuation,
the overall value of agricultural land in St. Joseph County is expected to rise 11.4 percent this year, to $479 million.

The Krulls and owners of the five other
farms own most of the 150 acres MDOT wants to purchase for the bypass,
which would travel from west of the village of Constantine, extend
south from Garber Road and reconnect with the existing U.S, 131 route
around Dickinson Road. A bridge would be built across the St. Joseph
River between North River Road and Riverside Drive.

MDOT officials currently estimate the
project cost at $25 million. The agency so far has secured $9 million
in funding, which has allowed it to conduct engineering work,
environmental-impact studies and acquire property outside the core
group of six landowners.

MDOT
officials said any further developments are contingent on funding,
which is in a holding pattern until the state’s 20011-2012 budget is
approved.

“MDOT is committed to the (bypass) project, and as funding has been allocated in small amounts year after year, we continue
to plan for a target date of 2012 to begin construction of the new bridge,” said Jason Latham, planning manager for MDOT’s
Southwest Region.

Krull said MDOT is putting the couple in a difficult position because they are the first property owners among the six major landowners with whom MDOT is negotiating.

“What to do,” Krull said, “is a question that keeps us awake at night.”

Fair value

Krull
posed several questions she and her husband are struggling with: Will
they get a better price for their land if they reject the initial
offer? Has MDOT factored into its offer the loss of money from future
crops? Will their neighbors get similar compensation? Should they
negotiate individually or as a collective group? What happens if they
agree to a deal and the bypass is never built?

The Krulls, who are both 56, own land
that abuts the St. Joseph River. Construction of the bridge spanning
the river is the most expensive component of the bypass, costing about
$8 million. MDOT’s real-estate representative recently began
discussions with Norma Hilton, a neighbor of the Krulls. No dollar
offers have yet been made to the Krulls or Hilton, Terry Krull said.

The 870-foot long bridge would be built over wetlands at the south and north ends of the St. Joseph River.

In acquiring property, MDOT uses a formula that involves appraisals and the establishment of fair-market value for the property,
Latham said.

“Eminent domain doesn’t come up as much as people might think,” Latham said of the process in which the government can seize
a citizen’s property, with compensation, but without their consent.

“MDOT’s objective is to not go around threatening people. By the time we start the negotiation process, most of the time the
parties involved have come to terms with what’s happening and they take the money and move on with their lives.”

The bypass would traverse five farms that
grow either seed corn or soy beans; the sixth is a sod farm. The Krulls
said they were told they would not be able to farm any of the land they
sell to the state even if work on the bypass had not begun or would not
affect the land for a full growing season.

Neither the Krulls nor the other five
major landowners would lose their homes if the bypass is built. The
acreage the state wants to acquire from the landowners is not large,
based on the total acreage owned by each. The Krulls, for example,
would lose less than one-fifth of their 100 acres.

“We’re talking about a 200-foot-wide
swath that amounts to about 14 acres,” Terry Krull said. “The problem
is that it would dissect our large fields into smaller fields, and
that’s a loss of land that is huge” because it would require
repositioning their irrigation system to cover smaller land areas over
four sections.

The Krulls also are concerned whether the newly configured fields would meet the acreage specifications in their contract
with the company for which they grow seed corn.

“Our son helps Steve, and we have a 5-year-old grandson who we’d like to think will farm here someday, too,” Krull said. “How
can you effectively farm a field that’s been divided into four small parcels?”

Discussed for years

The bypass has long been sought by Constantine village officials. The heavy truck traffic on U.S. 131, they say, takes its
toll on local roads, the foundation of downtown buildings and the overall quality of life in Constantine.

“I’d be kidding myself if I said I didn’t recognize that the bypass will take away car traffic, too, from downtown Constantine
... and we stand to lose that potential traffic that might stop at the gas stations, the restaurants and the other stores
downtown,” Village Manager Mark Honeysett said.

The trade-off is a downtown where people can stand outside and carry on a conversation without having trucks rattling storefront
windows and interior walls.

Some people have suggested the bypass should be designated a truck route only, with cars remaining on the current U.S. 131. If
the bypass was built, officials said signs would be posted on the highway directing people to downtown Constantine.

The proposed bypass would have one lane
of traffic in both directions. Krull said she would feel better about
losing land if the state would make U.S. 131 a four-lane highway — two
lanes in both directions — from south of Three Rivers to the Indiana
state line. A four-lane highway, she said, would meet long-term traffic
needs and not require more land acquisition in the foreseeable future.

“Everybody knows the greater need is a continuation of U.S. 131” to the Indiana state line, Krull said. “Better yet, why not
make it a true expressway like it is from (south of) Portage all the way north past Cadillac?”